Category Archives: Military

Claire Shipman is breathing a bit easier these days, now that her husband—and boss Joe Biden—have once again returned from Iraq safe and sound.

Interviewed on Army Wife Talk Radio, the senior national correspondent for ABC News’ Good Morning America discusses what it’s like having a spouse in a war zone.

Claire: Salutes America's military.

“My husband changed jobs recently, and he’s now gone to work for Vice President Biden,” says Claire of Jay Carney, assistant to and director of communications for the veep, who formerly served as Time magazine’s Washington bureau chief.

Today is Military Spouse Appreciation Day, an annual even honoring the many contributions made by the spouses of U.S. military personnel to keep our nation’s armed forces strong.

In recognition of the occasion, First Lady Michelle Obama sat down with The Pentagon Channel yesterday at the White House for an exclusive interview simulcast on Pentagon Web Radio’s DoD New Mediahere on BlogTalkRadio.

“I just saw the results of a recent survey done by Blue Star Families that shows that 94 percent of military families feel as if the country doesn’t understand their challenges,” Mrs. Obama tells host Liz Murray. “That’s a pretty powerful statement.”

“We’re seeing a 2.9 percent increase in salary for our [service- members] to ensure that we’re retaining and attracting new numbers of individuals who want to be part of the military forces and feel like they can build a life as a result,” she adds.

“In terms of our spouses, the administration is investing $80 million just for career development and training for spouses, which is critical.”

Last week, in the early hours of April Fool’s Day, four teenage boys in Marcus Luttrell‘s Walker County, Texas, hometown,approached the former Navy SEAL’s property and fatally shot his beloved Labrador retriever, Dasy, with a .357 Magnum.

It was a horrific “prank” that, to date, has led to the arrest of one of Dasy’s assassins, Alfonso Hernandez, while another, Michael Edmonds, turned himself in – only to get walk away hours later upon posting bail.

"It was like shooting fish in a barrel," Marcus (above) told us last year of his attackers' ambush.

Even more horrific is the fact that Dasy had been given to Marcus to help him recover from the wounds he suffered during a dramatic 2005 battle in Afghan- istan – during which all three of his fellow SEALs dispatched to kill or capture high- ranking Taliban leader Ahmad Shah were themselves killed.

Each letter of the name “Dasy” represents one of the fallen members of his sniper team: Daniel “Danny” Dietz, Matthew “Axe” Axelson, “Southern Boy” Marcus and Michael “Yankee” Murphy.

In the hours after Dasy’s killing, Marcus pursued the four punks for 40 miles in a high-speed car chase that crossed three counties, according to the Houston Chronicle. All the while, he “stayed on the line with a 911 emergency operator as he tried to catch the car.”

Marcus' slain yellow Lab, Dasy.

“I told them, ‘You need to get somebody out here because if I catch them I’m going to kill them,'” Marcus – reliving the horror of his Taliban battle – told the paper of his conversation with the operator.

In June 2007, Marcus pub- lished Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10, a critically-acclaimed account of his ill-fated mission.

Eleven months later, he appeared on BlogTalkRadio’s Now Is the Time to discuss the impact that mission – and his book – had had on his life.

“There’s a lot of guys out there that are pretty well trained. They’re pretty good at what they do,” Marcus told hosts Alan Levy and Marla “The FlyLady” Cilley of the Taliban soldiers who cornered and slew his comrades in the Hindu-Kush mountains in eastern Afghanistan.

Marcus (right) with fellow SEAL Danny Dietz, who perished in the ambush.

“The next day, I must’ve stepped off the mountain two, three times and fell hundreds of feet,” he adds while recounting his harrowing flight to safety.

To hear Marcus’ full May 2008 interview – during which he also discusses his Navy SEAL “buzz training”; how he was rescued by the Green Berets; how his Texas hometown rallied around his family in the wake of media reports that he’d been killed in Afghanistan; and how his twin brother, Jim, never believed that Marcus was dead – click here.

To read the Houston Chronicle‘s lastest in Dasy’s killing – including how Marus reacted to the horrific incident – click here.

Geoff Tate may be a heavy-metal hero to fans worldwide, but this month the Queensryche frontman is exposing his sensitive side in an effort to honor heroes of a different kind.

Interviewed on You Served, Geoff – whose dad served in the U.S. military – discusses how his band’s latest musical project, a new CD titled American Soldier, came to be.

“How does the soldier feel in these situations?” Geoff (above) tells us he asked before setting out to pay musical tribute to the troops.

“So many times you see Holly- wood films and they kind of glorify things and take things out of context. But I wanted to tell the story from the soldiers’ point of view,” he tells host – and U.S. Army Master Sergeant – CJ Grisham.

Geoff, who interviewed hundreds of soldiers at random over a year as background for the concept album, goes on to reveal the inspiration for Middle of Hell, a track that CJ finds particularly poignant.

“That song comes from stories from two different soldiers. One of them was writing letters to his dad back and forth. And his dad told him before he went, ‘Look, son. You’re going into the middle of hell. So just be careful,” says Geoff.

“So the son wrote back to his dad a month later from Baghdad, ‘You’re right. This is the middle of hell. It’s nothing like I expected.’

“And he was talking about how scared he was so much of the time, because he didn’t know where the enemy was. It’s not like there’s guys in red coasts with uniforms on. It’s a situation where every- body is the enemy,” the rocker continues.

“He was telling me that a lot of these guys recite this kind of mantra to themselves over and over again: ‘I’m going to be alright. I’m going to be alright. I’m going to be OK. I’m going to be OK. Stay smart. Stay smart.’

“So I included that in the lyrics of the song.”

To read more about American Soldier and Queensryche’s upcoming tour, click here.

Founder and President of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, and Founder of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Jan Scruggs, will join the Smithsonian Channel’s David Royle on BlogTalkRadio to discuss Memorial Day and the Smithsonian Channel documentary ‘Remembering Vietnam: The Wall at 25’ tonight at 6pm ET (click to listen).

The Smithsonian Channel and Showtime will celebrate the heroism of the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces this Memorial Day by airing two award-winning documentaries from the Smithsonian Channel, including REMEMBERING VIETNAM: THE WALL AT 25.

Today on BlogTalkRadio get a preview of the documentary, which goes back in time to tell the story of the memorial through the eyes of those who conceived it, those who were instrumental in pushing it through bureaucratic and political resistance, those intimately involved with its 25-year history, and those it honors. Above all, the documentary tells the story of a place that is more than a memorial – – it is a place where old wounds are healed.

The documentary will air on the Smithsonian Channel as part of a special weekend of programming on Smithsonian Channel throughout Memorial Day Weekend, May 23-26.

Patrick Dollard was a Hollywood talent agent, manager, and producer and is now a conservative documentary filmmaker, blogger, and pundit. Dollard decided to do a side project for a few weeks in the three worst combat zones in Iraq; the resulting documentary, Young Americans, is not yet finished, but hear directly from Dollard today.